AKRON, Ohio -- Jimmy Dimora offered to have the construction company that did heavily discounted work at his house do work on Frank Russo's house as well, Russo said this afternoon in U.S. District Court.

D-A-S Construction built a backyard patio, canopy, shed and performed other work in the former county commissioner's Independence back yard and was paid only a fraction of the cost, owner Steven Pumper testified earlier in Dimora's federal racketeering trial.

Former county Auditor Russo said today he mentioned to Dimora that people were talking about D-A-S trucks being parked in Dimora's driveway.

Dimora said "they were a reputable company," Russo testified.

Live trial coverage

Follow Jimmy Dimora's trial live with The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com. We have a team of reporters covering the trial every day, providing live updates and video reports throughout. Find that coverage at cleveland.com/countyincrisis

Background on the trial

Russo and Dimora were once good friends and political allies. Now, Russo is testifying against Dimora and his co-defendant, Michael Gabor, who once worked for Russo. Prosecutors say Gabor was Dimora's fixer.

Russo told jurors that in April 2008 he expressed his concerns about Gabor leaving the auditor's office for a job at Green-Source Products, which was owned by Pumper's family. Gabor -- Dimora's co-defendant in the trial -- said he expected to make $80,000 a year plus commission.

Ted Crow, The Plain DealerFrank Russo testifying this morning in U.S. District Court.

But Gabor later told Russo that the job wasn't as advertised, the pay included commission and he would have had no benefits. He didn't take the job.

Russo had hired Gabor despite his job application being nearly empty. Russo testified that Gabor paid a $5,000 bribe for the job.

Russo said that when The Plain Dealer requested personnel files of employees in the auditor’s office, he had Gabor meet with another county official to help him beef up his resume.

The former auditor said he worried about all the time Gabor spent driving Dimora around, bringing food to cookouts and running errands.

Russo has pleaded guilty to 21 corruption-related counts and was sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison. His reporting date has been delayed to allow him to testify against other defendants. He could receive a reduced sentence due to his cooperation with investigators.

The charges against Dimora are found in a 36-count, 148-page federal indictment, alleging that he used his county commissioner's office as the base to run a criminal enterprise. Dimora is on trial along with Gabor, 52, of Parma. Gabor is accused of bribery and conspiracy, including a charge that he tried to pay a judge $10,000 to fix his divorce case.